Tuesday, May 06, 2014

I just had a two day migraine that redefined my "bare minimum" and "mental toughness". I was feeling like a failure because I missed two workouts, but TINAJANE's words helped me see I still succeeded at maintaining because I didn't give in to the urge to self-medicate with empty carbs once the nausea passed. I've been in maintenance mode for 5 months now and it is still really tough.

When I first started working out, I had DOMS all the time because I was using my muscles in new ways. I was awkward and wobbly. Maintenance feels much the same but that's okay - it's only a place to start. I'm building mental toughness the same way I built muscle strength - through repeated USE.

TINAJANE talks about the bare minimum. I'm not sure what that is, but I suspect it is food tracking, staying within calorie range, and meeting nutritional macros. I say that because I hear long time maintainers say that you cannot out-exercise a bad diet.

I'd add almost daily exercise as a bare minimum for myself because that's what it takes for me to manage my fibromyalgia and migraines. Except that the migraines mean missing workouts at times, so maybe the bare minimum really is just nutrition and tracking?

I was just about to leave a comment on your page when I saw this blog, so I thought I'd leave you some feedback here instead. I'll blog about this soon when I have a bit more time (work's nuts at the moment!), but yes, for me the "bare minimum" is all about calories. I know that if I keep my calories within a certain range, I can still maintain my weight even if I'm doing practically no exercise or even if my food choices aren't optimal. That gives me the flexibility of eating more convenience food to save time when I'm really tired or stressed out or just not home to cook rather than feeling like I have to follow a totally "clean" diet. And there are times when trying to fit in exercise causes more stress than it alleviates it and it's just not worth it, especially if it means I'll be very sleep deprived. My "bare minimum" periods rarely last more than a week or two, but it's good to know that I have an emergency plan that works if I need it. My "bare minimum" plan also works well when I've been off track for a stretch. I find that if I try focusing on too much all at once, it feels overwhelming. Just focusing on calories, then gradually adding back everything else is much more manageable.